Airwallex vs Swipey: Compare features, fees & cards (2026)

Key Takeaways:

• Swipey is a Malaysia-focused expense management tool with prepaid Visa cards, while Airwallex is a global financial platform with multi-currency corporate cards, FX, transfers, and payment acceptance.

• Swipey charges per-user monthly fees and limits virtual cards per user per plan, while Airwallex lets you create unlimited virtual cards at no extra cost.

• Airwallex gives you corporate cards, multi-currency accounts, and FX tools in one platform, without international transaction fees on card spend.

Airwallex vs Swipey is a common comparison for Malaysian businesses looking for corporate cards and expense management tools. Both platforms are regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and serve SMEs, but they're built for very different needs.

In this guide, we'll compare both platforms side by side so you can decide which one fits your business. We'll cover corporate cards, expense management, multi-currency capabilities, and pricing.

What is Swipey?

Swipey is a Malaysia-based financial operations (fin-ops) platform built for SMEs that want to replace petty cash, personal card use, and manual expense tracking. It was founded in 2021 by Kalyana Mohan and Rouvin Thiruchelvam, and is used by over 2,500 businesses in Malaysia.¹

The platform centres on prepaid Visa cards — both virtual and physical — paired with an expense management dashboard. You top up a master account, allocate funds to individual cards, and track spending in real time from the dashboard or mobile app.

Beyond cards, Swipey also offers invoice and bill payment tools with AI-powered invoice recognition, digital petty cash management, and receipt capture. Accounting integration with Xero and QuickBooks is available on higher-tier plans. We compare plans and pricing in detail later in this article.

Swipey operates in partnership with Fass Payment Solutions Sdn Bhd (Fasspay), a BNM-approved e-money issuer and Visa prepaid card issuer.² Customer funds are held in a dedicated account at HSBC Bank.³

Worth knowing: Swipey cards work at 80 million+ Visa merchants worldwide⁴, but the platform itself is MYR-focused. There are no multi-currency wallets, FX conversion tools, or international transfer capabilities built into the platform.

What is Airwallex?

Airwallex is a global financial platform founded in 2015 in Melbourne, Australia, and now dual-headquartered in Singapore and San Francisco. It serves over 150,000 businesses worldwide and processes more than US$130 billion in annual transaction volume.

In Malaysia, Airwallex holds multiple licences from Bank Negara Malaysia. In April 2026, it received approval for e-money issuing and Class A licences, giving it one of the broadest regulatory footprints of any non-bank financial platform in the country. Airwallex processed more than RM2 billion in remittance transaction volume in Malaysia in 2025.

The platform covers a wider range of financial functions than a typical expense management tool. With a single Airwallex account, Malaysian businesses can:

• Issue corporate cards — multi-currency Visa cards (virtual and physical) with built-in spend controls and expense management

• Open Global Accounts — receive and hold funds in 20+ currencies with local account details

• Convert currencies — access interbank-adjacent FX rates for currency conversion

• Send international transfers — pay suppliers and employees in 200+ countries, with free transfers to 120+ countries via local rails

• Accept payments — collect online payments through 160+ local payment methods across 180+ countries

Accounting integrations with Xero and QuickBooks are included at no additional cost.

Airwallex vs Swipey: Feature comparison

Before diving into the details, here's a high-level look at how the two platforms compare across the features that matter most to Malaysian businesses:

The information in this table has been reviewed to be accurate as of 13 April 2026.

Corporate cards

Corporate cards are the core product both platforms share. But the way each platform handles cards — and what happens when your team spends internationally — is where they diverge.

Swipey's corporate cards

The information in this table has been reviewed to be accurate as of 13 April 2026.

Swipey issues prepaid Visa cards that draw from a pre-loaded MYR master account. You top up the master account via FPX, then allocate funds to individual employee cards.⁵ Swipey cards work at Visa merchants worldwide, so your team can use them for international purchases like software subscriptions or overseas vendor payments.

However, international transactions are subject to a 1% network charge on top of Visa's own conversion rate, and you have no control over when or at what rate the conversion happens.⁶

Airwallex Corporate Cards

Airwallex Corporate Cards are multi-currency Visa cards designed for businesses that spend both locally and internationally.

The information in this table has been reviewed to be accurate as of 13 April 2026.

The key difference is how international spend works. Instead of converting every foreign purchase through Visa's network rate plus a surcharge, Airwallex lets you hold balances in 20+ currencies. When an employee makes a purchase in USD, for example, the payment draws directly from your USD balance — so there are no conversions (and no FX fees).

Both company cards (shared, for team purchases like subscriptions and ad spend) and employee cards (individual, for travel and day-to-day expenses) are available in virtual and physical formats.

Expense management

Both platforms offer expense tracking, but they differ in depth and automation.

Swipey

Swipey's expense dashboard is the central hub for tracking all card transactions. Each purchase appears in real time with merchant details and timestamps, and cardholders can attach receipt photos and notes via the mobile app.⁸

The information in this table has been reviewed to be accurate as of 13 April 2026.

One limitation worth noting: if your team incurs expenses in multiple currencies, Swipey doesn't natively support multi-currency expense reporting or categorisation. On lower plans, accounting integration isn't available — you'll need to download Excel statements and upload them manually to your accounting software.⁸

Airwallex

Airwallex Expense Management is built into the same platform as your corporate cards, multi-currency accounts, and transfers — so card expenses, reimbursements, and international payments all live in one place.

The information in this table has been reviewed to be accurate as of 13 April 2026.

Employees submit expenses on the go via the mobile app. Approved out-of-pocket reimbursements are processed through local Malaysian payment rails and typically reach employee bank accounts the same day.

Approved expenses sync automatically to your accounting software — including receipt images, categories, cost centres, and tax codes — reducing manual reconciliation at month-end.

Multi-currency and international capabilities

This is where the two platforms diverge most.

Swipey is built for domestic expense management, and it doesn't offer multi-currency accounts, FX conversion, international transfers, or payment acceptance tools. Airwallex covers all of these from a single platform.

Swipey

The information in this table has been reviewed to be accurate as of 13 April 2026.

Swipey cards do work internationally at Visa merchants, but the platform itself doesn't offer any tools to hold, convert, or send foreign currencies. If your business needs to pay an overseas supplier, you'd need to use a separate bank or FX provider outside of Swipey.

Airwallex

The information in this table has been reviewed to be accurate as of 13 April 2026.

With Airwallex, you can open Global Accounts in markets like the US, UK, Australia, and Singapore — each with local bank details so overseas customers can pay you as if you had a local bank account in that market. Funds arrive in your multi-currency wallet, where you can hold them, convert when rates suit you, or spend directly via your corporate cards.

You get free international transfers to 120+ countries via local payment rails, and 93% of Airwallex transfers arrive on the same working day.

If your business also sells online, Airwallex's payment acceptance tools let you collect payments from customers in 180+ countries using 160+ local payment methods — including cards, digital wallets, and bank transfers — with like-for-like settlement in 20+ currencies.

Pricing

Swipey and Airwallex use very different pricing models. Swipey charges per user per month, with features gated by plan tier. Airwallex has no per-user fees — you pay for specific services like FX conversion when you use them.

Swipey

Swipey offers three plans:⁵

The information in this table has been reviewed to be accurate as of 13 April 2026. Swipey offers promotional rates for new users — typically discounted for the first 6–12 months depending on billing cycle. Visit swipey.co/pricing for current promotions.

Additional fees to note:⁶

• International transaction fee: 1% network charge + Visa's conversion rate

• ATM withdrawal (local): RM2 per transaction

• ATM withdrawal (international): RM10 or 2% of withdrawal, whichever is higher

• Cross-border bill payment: RM5 per bill

All prices exclude SST.⁵

Airwallex

Airwallex doesn't charge per-user subscription fees. You pay based on what you use:

The information in this table has been reviewed to be accurate as of 13 April 2026.

The pricing difference becomes more noticeable as your team grows. With Swipey, adding a 10-person team on the Plus plan costs at least RM390/month (billed annually).⁵ With Airwallex, you can issue cards to the same 10 people at no per-user cost.

Which should you choose?

Swipey is a solid option for very small, purely domestic teams that need basic expense tracking and prepaid cards. If your business operates entirely in MYR with zero international transactions, Swipey gives you a simple way to replace petty cash and personal card reimbursements.

But the reality is that most Malaysian businesses today have some form of cross-border financial activity, whether that's:

• Paying a supplier in China

• Subscribing to software billed in USD

• Running Google or Meta ads in foreign currencies, or

• Accepting payments from international customers

Once your business touches more than one currency, you need more than an expense tracker. You need a financial platform that handles corporate cards, FX, transfers, and payment acceptance in one place. That's where Airwallex comes in.

With Airwallex, you can issue unlimited corporate cards with no international transaction fees, hold 20+ currencies, pay suppliers in 200+ countries, and accept payments from customers worldwide. There are no per-user fees, so your costs don't scale with headcount the way they do with Swipey's subscription model.

And with Airwallex's recently approved e-money and Class A licences from Bank Negara Malaysia, Malaysian businesses now have access to the platform's full suite of financial tools — not just transfers and cards, but a complete financial infrastructure built for cross-border growth.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Is Swipey regulated in Malaysia?

Yes. Swipey operates in partnership with Fass Payment Solutions Sdn Bhd (Fasspay), a BNM-approved e-money issuer and Visa prepaid card issuer.² Customer funds are held in a dedicated account at HSBC Bank.³

Is Airwallex regulated in Malaysia?

Yes. Airwallex (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd is directly licensed by Bank Negara Malaysia. It holds a Class B Money Services Business licence for remittance, a Class A licence, an e-money issuing licence, and is a registered merchant acquirer under the Financial Services Act 2013.

Can I use Swipey cards internationally?

Yes. Swipey cards are accepted at 80 million+ Visa merchants worldwide.⁴ However, international transactions are subject to a 1% network charge plus Visa's own currency conversion rate.⁶ The platform itself doesn't offer multi-currency wallets or FX tools.

Can Airwallex replace my business bank account?

Airwallex is not a bank, but it can handle many of the functions businesses typically rely on banks for — including holding funds in multiple currencies, sending international transfers, accepting payments, and issuing corporate cards. Some Malaysian businesses use Airwallex as their primary financial platform, while others use it alongside their existing bank account.

Does Swipey integrate with accounting software?

Swipey integrates with Xero and QuickBooks, but only on the Plus plan (from RM29/user/month billed annually).⁵ On lower plans, you can download monthly Excel statements and upload them manually.⁸

Which platform is better for a growing team?

Swipey's per-user pricing means costs increase with every new team member. A 10-person team on the Plus plan costs at least RM290/month.⁵ Airwallex has no per-user fees, so you can issue cards and manage expenses for a growing team without your platform costs scaling with headcount.

Sources:

1.  https://swipey.co/

2.  https://swipey.co/faqs/

3.  https://swipey.co/

4.  https://swipey.co/faqs/

5.  https://swipey.co/pricing/

6.  https://swipey.co/product-disclosure/

7.  https://swipey.co/mobile-app/

8.  https://swipey.co/expense-management/

9.  https://swipey.co/

This publication does not constitute legal, tax, or professional advice from Airwallex nor substitute seeking such advice, and makes no express or implied representations / warranties / guarantees regarding content accuracy, completeness, or currency. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Airwallex (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd is licensed in Malaysia as a MSB Class B (remittance business only) licensee and is regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia (licence number 00318).